Trina 
Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Trina
Question for a friend:
"I just bought the Britax Marathon and I think it is too big for DS (4 months). The straps on the lowest setting are over an inch above his shoulders. It says in the book that they are supposed to be at or below his shoulder height.
How in the world does a baby at 5 pounds use this carseat if the straps don't go any lower? Do you just use the car seat this way or is there padding or something they sell extra so it will make him tall enough to use the straps?"
TIA! You are wonderful!
First off, KUDOS to you for reading the manual!  You are correct that the Marathon is currently too big for your DS. That is one of the few complaints about the Marathon. It is sometimes too big for newborns or small infants. Although they may meet the minimum weight requirements, their shoulders are below the lowest harness slots, which is not recommended when rear facing because it would not be safe in the event of a crash.
How much does your DS weigh? Has he outgrown his infant carrier? If not, you could put him back into it for now. Another option would be to buy a low cost convertible car seat, such as the Cosco Scenera, until he's big enough for the Marathon. Then you could use it as a back up or for a second vehicle.
HTH
BTW, we have another CPS Tech on the board now.
Cat
CONGRATS!
Aw, shucks, thanx Trina.
Trina's right. The Marathon is a great seat, but not great for infants with a short torseo. This was something we talked about in our class. Tell your friend NOT to put anything in it to "make it fit" her child. She'll just have to wait to use it until the straps are at or below his shoulders. They really stressed in our class that unless it came with the carseat, it's not a good idea to use it. The Scenera really is a great, low cost seat. Our instructor actually went out and bought one after class one night. All of us in the class used it during our practice installs and we all liked it. It fit really well in all our cars and was really easy to install. But, again, like Trina said if she's still got her infant carrier or whatever she used for the first four months, she can still use it.
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